Happy Safari - Rules

This game is loosely based on the classic card games of 'Happy Families' or 'Go Fish' but with one or two wild twists.

Object of the game: to collect the most sets of cards.

Shuffle the cards well and deal out 7 cards each (5 each if you are playing with the Junior pack or if there are more than 4 players). Place the remaining cards face down to form a stock pile.

The youngest player starts by asking a specific another player for one card from a specific group to add to some they already have. For example, if Jim holds a Vegi-mate he might say “Anne, have you seen any Vegi-mates?” If Anne has any Vegi-mate cards she must hand one of them to Jim. Jim then gets another go. He can ask another player or ask Anne again and can ask for the same group or a different one that he already holds.

If Anne does not hold any Vegi-mate cards she says “Looto!”, this is like an African word for “I’ve seen nothing”. Jim must then pick up a card from the stock pile. If the card he picks up is a Vegi-mate, Jim can show it to the others and then have another turn, if the card he picks up is not a Vegi-mate then that is the end of his go and the turn now moves to Anne.

As soon as a player collects a set of all 4 cards in a group (such as all 4 Vegi-mate cards), they can be shown to the others and placed face-up in front of them. You can only do this during your turn. If you do this and have no cards left this is called ‘going out’.

Play continues until either someone goes out or the stock pile runs out. The winner is then the player who has placed the highest number of sets of cards in front of them.

The game can get quite strategic since there is no point going out if you do not have the highest number of sets placed in front of you. Holding sets in your hand to confuse your opponents is allowed but be careful they don’t go out first!

Happy Safari – Variation 1

In this simple variation, instead of handing over just one card if you are asked for a group, you have to hand over all the cards from that group that you hold.

Happy Safari - Variation 2

This variation can be played once everyone has become familiar with the Safari Pals pack being played as it relies on memory as well as skill.

The game is set up and played in the normal way except that instead of asking ‘Have you seen any Vegi-mates?’ you have to ask for a specific animal, so you would ask ‘Have you seen any Giraffe?’ You must still hold a Vegi-mate card already to ask for another one though.

In the event that a player cannot remember the name of any other animal that they can legally ask for, they skip their turn and play passes to the player to their left.

Happy Safari – Variation 3

This variation is ideal for families or can be played when some players are more familiar with the Safari Pals pack being played as it relies on memory as well as skill. In this variation players are divided into Trackers and Spotters. Trackers are normally adults or experienced players. Spotters are normally younger players or people new to a pack.

The game is set up and played in the normal way except that instead of asking ‘Have you seen any Vegi-mates?’ Trackers have to ask for a specific animal, so you would ask ‘Have you seen any Giraffe?’ You must still hold a Vegi-mate card already to ask for another one though.

Spotters play as usual asking for the group, for example ‘Have you seen any Vegi-mates?’

In the event that a Tracker cannot remember the name of any other animal that they can legally ask for, they skip their turn, they don’t pick up a new card and play passes to the player to their left.

Happy Safari – Variation 4

Since the winner of the standard game is the player with the most sets of cards at the end of the game and not necessarily the first player to go out, in this variation when a player goes out, they pick up 5 new cards from the stock pile and play continues until the stock pile runs out.